[sigh] I
really would have preferred to just ignore this thread and let it die, but...
^^
Goddamn dietary supplements.
EDIT: I say this only because said supplements are specifically exempt from that kind of regulation until they are demonstrated to have a body count, as of the last time I checked. Pet peeve of mine that's really only tangential here, but suffice it to say I think there are areas that could actually use more regulation.
It's that kind of ignorance which let Congress pass that Goddam so-called "Food Safety Bill" two days before Christmas! (Which, by the way, they did despite
several million protest phone calls, letters, and emails. They only managed to pass it by suddenly cutting off the votes before all the votes had been turned in!
)
What I'm saying is that your precious regulations on dietary supplements was already made into law! Thankfully, these regulations are
nowhere as extreme (yet) as they are in the European Union. There, the strict regulations have already managed to
shut down a significant portion of supplement manufacturers and health food stores.
Please educate yourself about a subject before bashing it on a public forum. Go do some serious digging about the safety record of supplements and the effectiveness and safety track record of pharmaceutical drugs. Really, the Pharmaceutical Industry is like a legal
drug cartel, milking consumers (and Americans in particular) for all they're worth.
You may choose to ignore the respected scientists and studies which show how
synthetic vitamins are virtually worthless compared with natural ones. But what about the
fact that most of the food produced today contains only a
small fraction of the nutritional value of food commonly available many decades ago. The soil on most farms today has been leached of the essential trace minerals plants need to produce many vitamins. Commercial fertilizers replace nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, but there is virtually no interest in or incentive to replace the micronutrients. All agri-business is concerned about is the bottom line. They value quantity over quality. And they certainly do
not make a habit of testing the vitamins and nutrition in their produce!
Also, if you don't like supplements, nobody is forcing you to buy or use them. But
food, on the other hand, is something that affects everybody. If you are that concerned about food safety, then you should instead write Congress asking them to require
labels on GM food so consumers know whether or not it has been genetically modified. This has
already been done in Europe, but those Goddamn agri-business
lobbyists bought out Congress here!
Many of you may be satisfied with (not knowing the full story about) the safety of genetically modified foods. But some of us are concerned. Did you know that most GM foods are made insect-resistant by the addition of
scorpion venom? Did you also know that there are documented cases where this insect resistance gene has been accidentally passed on to weeds via cross-pollination? And don't get me started with GM animals! For one thing, there is a very real danger of GM animals escaping containment and then crossing with wild animals. And, already, it appears that food allergies are more common with GM foods, despite the fact that no long-term health studies have been done on eating GM foods.
You might even be surprised how very commonplace GM foods have become in our local grocers. (And quite a few products are
irradiated by nuclear radiation to give them a really long shelf life.) Really, whether we like it or not, we've been turned into guinea pigs for the world's largest uncontrolled experiment.
Meh, why do I bother? At least I try to educate myself and then contact Representatives about my concerns.
Always funny to hear stories of some of the stupid fear you got against regulations in the USA. Companys are profit based, not consumer safety based. I still can't understand why people would fight tooth and nail to let the companies have the right to screw them over more effectively.
The problem with regulations is that they can be a double-edged sword. In the right hands, they can cut down on the corruption and greed at the expense of consumers. But in the wrong hands these regulations can be ineffective bloat if they're not enforced or, worse, can be misused or abused to hinder or hurt rather than help. Sadly, a frightening percentage of offices (both local and national) have become corrupt. (Seriously, I've read and heard enough horror stories about police and local governments around here to know this is more widespread than the media lets on.) So where there's a lot of money involved, there is a tendency for regulations to be either lacking or badly abused.
Also, outlawing or regulating something is not always the best way to discourage the use or abuse of something. Sometimes there are more effective alternatives. I'm reminded of the saying, "What happens when you outlaw all guns? Only criminals will have guns, then." If there is enough incentive to do something, then no amount of laws or penalties will stop certain people. (But this is especially true if they have reason to believe they will manage get away with it.)
Another part of the problem is that we
already have bucket-loads of laws here in the States. It's gotten to a point where even lawyers and judges can have difficulty keeping track of them all. And they're making new laws all the time. So it can be confusing at times. For this reason I imagine some Americans are hesitant to add more laws to those we already have.
Anyway, I'm also confused why people fight so hard give companies more leverage to screw us over. But I would not call it funny. Especially since their ignorance affects me and my family as well. Instead, I'd just call it sad. Very,
very sad...
I hate to end on a bitter, sad note. So... how about a joke?
Why does the US have so many criminals, more than any other country?Answer:
Because we have so many lawyers, more than any other country.
Wait, I've got another one:
What is the origin of the word "politics"?
Answer:
Latin: Poli or Poly = Many; Tics = Blood sucking creatures
Author
Topic: Obama Creates World's First Superstate With US-Canada Merger (Read 22412 times)